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I am excited to share with you another excellent, Christ-centered resource. This one comes served up by author/blogger/speaker Frank Viola and is what he calls a “taste test” of his most recent book, Jesus Now – Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ.

I am currently reading through the full book and, I can tell you, it presents a very rich picture of Christ and of our life together in Him. Too often the focus of our faith and of the bulk of Christian teaching is either on what Jesus hasdone, looking back to His earthly life, death and resurrection, or what Jesus will do, looking forward to His Second Coming and Kingdom reign, but not on what Jesus is doing now in His present heavenly and earthly ministry. This is the focus of this book, and this is what we are called to live in…

I recently added a teaching to the “Other Writings” section of the blog that discusses six fundamental principles of the Headship of Christ as the church gathers. This was written for a seminar that I taught a few years back. I am including the introduction to it here, along with a link to the full page. If you would prefer to listen to the audio version, it can be found here.

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The Headship of Christ in the Gathering of the Church

“And He is the head of the body, the church…

that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Colossians 1:18

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As the church assembles, it is the Father’s supreme desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would have the preeminence in all things. Central to this desire is the establishing of the Lord Jesus as the functioning Head of the Body…

In my last post I shared how essential it is for the Body of Christ to be “holding fast to the Head” as it gathers in His name. In this and the next post I’d like to share one of the most important insights I’ve gained as to how the Body can most readily and regularly experience Christ’s headship as it gathers in His name.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”Matthew 18:20 ESV

When we assemble as the church, Jesus Christ is personally present with us. This is the most significant aspect of our gathering. His presence changes everything, for He is not there merely as a spectator, a cheerleader, or even a sideline coach. He is there in the fullness of all that He is, to be all to His people. When we gather “in His name”

The Argument: How can God be a loving God yet kills millions, or allows horrible things to happen to them?

If you ascribe blame to the God of the Bible, you logically have to ascribe responsibility for the creation of everything to Him as well. Else. how can He be blamed for the outcomes of the lives of people if He has no claim to influencing or prescribing how they should live?

If I manufactured a machine or robot, I determine the performance and maintenance schedules to accomplish satisfactory service. In the design stage of the machine, many things are pre-determined and pre-invested for actual production. My claim to prescribtion of the usage of the product is normally uncontested.

God the Creator enabled man to exercise a profound ability: his own will – a sovereign, free will. Yet man is not free from the results of exercising his will! He will have to accept responsibility alone.No one else can be blamed.

Thus, in total respect of this FREE will, God the Creator determined a singular, unique plan, the only one available, for man to change his destiny. God Himself paid the ransom due for the unrestrained exercise of the human free will! He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, as the only acceptable redemption to Him. No human nor spirit can do it – man’s own efforts are not only unacceptable, it is repugnant to God! Despite ancient and modern man’s plans to be gods, he will never achieve !

Yet, to people who hear this message, understand it, and react correctly by seeking to find this Creator God – accepting the one-way, gracious redemptive plan – of this God who holds responsibility; these receive an incomprehensibly wonderful gift:

The Redemptor comes to live within the redeemed in such an all-encompassing, powerful way that even these mortal men, through willingness to be living sanctuaries, share space, time and intimacy with God Almighty!

Five years ago this month, I had a terrible fall off of a ladder that broke under me while I was doing some tree work. Fortunately, I had enough wherewithal to toss the chainsaw far from me as I fell, but the ten foot “seat drop” onto hard ground left me with a crushed vertebrae and eight and a half months of at-home recovery. During my unplanned “vacation”, I sought to make the most of the situation by pouring a good amount of time into writing a draft manuscript for a book that had been on my heart to write for some time. The working title of the book was Full Circle –An End-Time Restoration Manifesto. It focused onthe Christ-centered restoration of an overcoming remnant at the end of the age. (Hmmm, sound familiar?? 🙂 )

It was during those months that I also began blogging as a way of sharing…

When women rule us astrayIn Isaiah 3:1-15 God laments over his people of Jerusalem and Judah because of their disobedient condition and the public parading of their sin. Their behavior reminds us a lot of the condition the whole world is in today. Verse 12 may sound particularly shocking for our modern ears. God then saw women in ruling position not as the sign of blessing, but asan expression of his judgment over his people.

Women’s March, Versailles Wikimedia Commons

In our modern world, about 22 countries live under the rule of women. Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Senegal, South Korea or Bangladesh have a female president, Prime Minister or Chancellor. What is God’s perspective when he looks on 22 countries ruled by women? God is the one who establishes governing authorities; he changes time and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He…